Altrincham 1 County 2

Apologies for the late inclusion of Ian Brown’s report. Here is the match report from Ian’s coverage of the Alti match.

County`s pre-season campaign continued with a fixture againstnear neighbours Altrincham FC now of the Evo Stik.

I say `now of the Evo Stik`, but Alty Manager Phil Parkinson seems to haveput together a team way capable of exiting that league at the correct end,probably at the first go.

As Ian Watts excellent preview indicated, Alty were packed with ex Countyplayers, amongst them Sam Sheridan and with him running their midfield theylooked neat and tidy playing some decent football. Width came from JohnJohnston and Josh Hancock, and I thought that Johnston was arguably theirtop man.

For County it was another good work out, and a definite step up fromSaturday`s interesting encounter at the Heath.

The first half saw County very much in charge as the triple threat ofStephenson, Oswell and Warburton tested Altrincham`s resolve to the fullestextent. Warburton was a class act and there was good support fromStephenson who again caused our opponents much trouble, but the mostsatisfying aspect for me, from the game, was the showing of Jason Oswell.Jason scored one- a very good one, and played a part in the other Countygoal along with Stephenson.

That Altrincham were able to snatch one back, after the break, was adisappointment, but on balance no less than their zesty second half displaydeserved. County might have added to their goal tally but gutsy defendingfrom Deasy and his fellow defenders and a touch of good fortune here andthere kept the Moss Lane side afloat.

NASA yesterday accomplished the extremely excellent task of flying directlyover and close to the Great Red Spot on Jupiter`s surface. The Spot NASAreckon is caused by a storm that has raged for over 350 years- so theretask was immensely difficult, in a way that travelling from Stockport to Altrinchamdefinitely is not, that is until last night when the A538 was a car parkfor longer than felt comfortable.

Eventually entering Moss Lane it was clear that County fans had made theeffort again and were on site in good numbers providing the majority of thenear 700 crowd.

A dull drizzle welcomed them to this part of Cheshire, but this soonsubsided as County got the game in motion getting on the front foot fromthe off, with Stephenson starting where he left off on Saturday with a runand shot that earned County an early corner from which Ball went close.

A foul by O`Halloran then put County under pressure and County werefortunate in so far as Jake Moult`s header, from what was a decent kick,missed the target.

This early whiff of success buoyed Alty and a foul, this time by Winter,saw them attack again as ex Hatter Josh Amis brought Johnston into the gamefor the first time down the right. For a moment it looked iffy for theblues but despite making good ground Johnston saw his cross spurned bythose in red/ white stripes.

We were 5 minutes into proceedings now , and despite the short spate ofattacking from Alty, County looked composed and full of intent, none moreso than Warburton who won possession in fine style before forcing Tim Deasyto an early save.

Altrincham then came under intense pressure from County, Moult and Disneyboth having to concede free kicks to keep Stephenson and Oswell outrespectively. Nothing came of the first of these, but the second fromWarburton required a good save from Deasy to keep it out, as County number10 curled a neat effort beyond the wall. The resultant corner allowedMichael Clarke a free header, but Deasy saved this as well and it remained0-0.

County , with Winter and Walker again looking composed and in charge in themiddle of the park, kept probing their opponents, but another foul fromO`Halloran put the screws on us briefly, and Hinchliffe did really well tokeep the free kick out with a diving save.

Twenty minutes had gone now and we needed a goal, and when it came it wasno surprise that Stephenson and Oswell were involved. Oswell first?. andhis challenge as Deasy prepared to make a clearance, almost saw the ball inthe net. Instead Stephenson latched onto the ricochet and powered a shotin that somehow the keeper saved, but he could only parry the ball, withthe lively Oswell on his case again, and send it crashing into SamHeathcote and onward into the net.

Of the 3 people involved in that one, Heathcote was the least likely toclaim it, but it was chalked up to him, and County had the lead.

An effort from Johnson induced a fumble from Hinchliffe, but generally ,despiteAlty looking composed and trying to play football, it was County who lookedthe more likely to prosper- Walker going close with a shot that somehowDeasy kept out.

That said though, Hinchliffe again had to pull out all the stops to keepAmis out- this was a terrific save from the County keeper!

We needed an instant reply from County, and it came from Stephenson, andDeasy did well to make the required save after the County striker hadinduced panic in the ranks of the Alty rear guard. Deasy parried the shot<BR>opening things up for Walker, but his follow up effort cleared the barnarrowly.

Despite looking good going forward, the occasional foul or error fromCounty, was tending to undermine their attacking intent, and when Hampsonlost the ball to Johnston , with Amis joining in and heading for goal, welooked potentially under threat. Whilst Amis charged through the middle,Johnston took to the right flank, releasing a tempting ball into the boxwhere the former County forward now was.

One apiece?

Nah??.up stepped Hinchliffe to snaffle the cross with all the relish of adonkey eating strawberries. Good stuff that from Hinchliffe?. not so whatwent before though!

Johnston was looking frisky now and , with the break approaching, he againhad the ball heading Hinchliffe`s way down the right. This time he pickedout Hancock on the left with a neat pass, and the cross from him reachedAmis with precision only for the resultant header to carry the bar!

That was a let off, but County did not dwell on it, but set about puttingmatters right, doing so in the best possible fashion?.with a goal!

This one was all Oswell!

It started with a run from Sam Cowan down the right, followed by a crossthat landed temptingly in the yard or so of grass twixt Oswell and Deasy-somehow Oswell`s effort was deflected around the post, but from the cornerOswell re-doubled his efforts and made no mistake with a snappy header fromclose in that brooked no arguments from Deasy and Co?..County`s lead wasnow 2-0, and not long after it was half time.

It all got a tad confusing after this?.I was perhaps expecting County tomake wholesale changes, as per Saturday`s modus operandi, but thenagain?with Alty looking a touch too tasty, that just might be a tad risky,and that was the way it seemed that JG was thinking as I could not see manychanges from County upon the re-start, apart from Ormson for Hinchliffe atthe back. Alty however made a host of personnel changes amongst these wereJoel Benbow-Lita and Jerome Wright who were both to show up to good effectin the following 45 minutes.

I was immediately impressed by Ormson`s distribution, but he was underpressure a time or two as Alty attacked down the flanks where Wright madeconsiderable ground. The approach play flattered to deceive from Altyhowever and they could not seem to hit the target and thus test Ormson.

But?..no sooner had I scribbled that last legend when ??Benbow-Lita setabout us again – his dipping effort forcing Ormson into an excellent divingsave that saw the ball tipped over the bar at the last gasp!

After the hour mark County were busy shuffling their pack, which saw,amongst other things, Chris Smalley on for his first ( welcome) run out ofthe close season.

Meanwhile Benbow-Lita had another dip, albeit a lesser powered effort,andOrmson again did the biz to keep it at 2-0.

The County attacks were less frequent than in the first half, but did notlack intensity, just a shade of luck, and maybe just a shade morefinesse?.and Walker`s neat run saw Oswell`sl shot somehow kept out byDeasy`s outstretched arm as the keeper lay prone on the ground!

Twice after this Oswell went close- an almighty scramble on the goal lineending with the ball still improbably in play.

Into the last 20 minutes and we saw youngsters George West and Adam Etcheson, and Deasy had to make a fine save to keep a West effort out minutesafter he had come on.

Altrincham continued to work hard and look good , but it was still asurprise when they nicked one late on through Hancock whose close rangeeffort went in off the cross bar with County failing to prevent the crosscoming over from the right.

Both teams tried to add to the score?.County via powerful runs from Warburtonand Brazell, but there was not enough precision in the last third now topenetrate the doughty Alty defence. Alty meanwhile kept trying but withoutthe finish that would have made the difference from playing well andgetting something from a game.

All round ?another useful run out, and a step up in class for County.

Again it`s too early for heady prognostications, I am certain JG hasmatters weighed up – expect improvement on Saturday when County take onPreston at Edgeley Park.